budget | ALXnow

Alexandria gets $600k federal funding boost for body-worn cameras

Published August 5, 2022 at 1:00PM

Rep. Don Beyer announced yesterday (Thursday) that the Alexandria Police Department has officially been awarded $600,000 in federal funding to get the city’s beleaguered body-worn camera program off the ground.

The federal funding was allocated as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant in the omnibus spending bill, which was approved in March pending the DOJ grant process. A spokesperson from Beyer’s office said the DOJ recently approved the grant, clearing the way for the money to get to the police department.

News

Alexandria expands behavioral health pilot program to reduce arrests

By James Cullum

Published May 10, 2022 at 2:15PM

An Alexandria police cruiser (Staff photo by James Cullum)

After being overwhelmed by behavioral health-related calls for service, the Alexandria Co Response Team (ACORP) pilot program is being expanded.

The pilot program soft-launched last fall, with the ACORP team (a licensed behavioral health clinician and specially trained officer) responding to 145 (16%) of behavioral health-related calls for service between October 2021 and February 2022, according to a report that goes before City Council on Tuesday (May 10).

News

ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published May 6, 2022 at 3:30PM

Alexandria’s annual budget process wrapped up this week with a $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget approval and special tax relief for car owners.

Meanwhile, an uptick in opioid overdoses among children has Alexandria City Public Schools considering adding Narcan to schools and city officials issuing warnings about counterfeit Percocet.

News

Alexandria City Council approves $839 million budget

By James Cullum

Published May 5, 2022 at 1:00PM | Updated May 5, 2022 at 1:54PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) The Alexandria City Council unanimously adopted City Manager Jim Parajon’s $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget on Wednesday night (May 4), and despite giving all city employees raises, Mayor Justin Wilson says inflation will likely mean more raises in future budgets.

“We’re staring into a significant inflationary environment that pinches our employees very hard, just like it pinches everyone hard,” Wilson said. “We’re going to have to continue to have this conversation every year about how we make sure we invest in the level of compensation and benefits required to not only attract but retain the best and the brightest in the city.”

News

Alexandria Mayor proposes trash collection fee increase for new pilot program

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2022 at 3:30PM

Taking out the trash in Old Town (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The trash situation is changing in Alexandria, as City leaders are ironing out a new curbside food waste collection pilot.

Mayor Justin Wilson’s proposal for the one-year pilot would see annual residential and commercial refuse collection fees increase from $484 to $500 citywide, or $1.33 a month.

News

Alexandria first responders say they aren’t disposable, plead for Council support

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2022 at 9:30AM | Updated April 26, 2022 at 10:45AM

The Alexandria Fire Department responds to a blaze in the 100 block of E. Del Ray Avenue on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Captain Mike Faber feels like he’s always working, and that the City of Alexandria owns he and his family.

Faber says he works an average of 80 hours a week, much of it forced overtime, and on Saturday (April 23) he was backed at City Hall by nearly a dozen Alexandria Fire Department staffers and supporters pleading for increased wages and upgraded equipment.

News

City Council considering additional employee raise, hiring cops and adding speed cameras to budget

By James Cullum

Published April 21, 2022 at 3:35PM | Updated May 5, 2022 at 10:03AM

Alexandria City Hall (staff photo by James Cullum)

More police officers, body worn cameras for cops and an additional raise for city employees are among the additions the Alexandria City Council hopes to adopt in their upcoming budget.

On Saturday (April 23), Council will hold a public hearing on their proposed additions and deletions to City Manger Jim Parajon’s fiscal year 2023 budget. The items under discussion will also be hammered out in a Council work session on (Tuesday) April 26 at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

News

City Council to set real estate tax rate, 5% stormwater utility fee hike

By James Cullum

Published April 19, 2022 at 2:15PM | Updated April 19, 2022 at 2:49PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

It’s about to get a little more expensive to live in Alexandria. The City Council on Saturday (April 23) will set the real estate tax rate and likely increase the stormwater utility fee for residents by 5%.

In real terms, that means residents could expect to pay between $445 and $477 per year more in real estate taxes, as City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposed budget maintains the current tax rate at $1.11 per $100 of assessed value.

Opinion

Poll: How closely do you follow Alexandria’s budget process?

By Vernon Miles

Published April 8, 2022 at 9:50AM

Money on a table (staff photo via Vernon Miles/ALXnow)

Budget season is Christmas for local policy wonks with every week providing insight into where the city is and isn’t investing in its future. But municipal budgets can also be a famously boring topic.

The annual budget can include some insight into the city’s priorities. This year, for instance, the budget finally includes funding for a police body camera program after being proposed as far back as 2015.

News

Alexandria mulls decoupling of residential and commercial taxes

By Vernon Miles

Published April 7, 2022 at 3:45PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

While such a major change is unlikely to occur this year, Alexandria’s City Council recently considered ideas proposed by the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee (BFAAC) that could dramatically shape budgets in the future.

Amy Friedlander, vice chair of BFAAC, presented budget-related recommendations to the City Council at a work session yesterday (Wednesday), including two that raised eyebrows on the Council.

News

Alexandria Police to start wearing body worn cameras this summer, will take a year until full deployment

By James Cullum

Published April 1, 2022 at 2:15PM

Alexandria Police will be outfitted with body worn cameras starting this summer, but it won’t be until next year that all officers will be outfitted with the devices.

The $2.2 million program City Manager Jim Parajon presented to Council on Wednesday (March 30) is significantly scaled back cost-wise when compared to a $13 million proposal presented to City Council last year by then-Police Chief Michael Brown.